Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Waiting on Jesus, part 14:

And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." (Luke 8:48 NASB)

"Go in peace," Jesus said to the woman who had been healed. Peace. What a beautiful thought! The woman had spent the last twelve years dealing with a hemorrhage, unclean as a result, isolated, alone. Her illness had changed her life, her relationships. It had been costly, and not just financially. She must have had twelve years of grief and inner turmoil. In an instant, she was made well. In an instant, Jesus replaced her turmoil with peace.

The word translated as "peace" is not shalom, as you might expect. Shalom is usually used to indicate a state of "wholeness" or "at one". The word used here is eirēnē. This word is more indicative of relationships, and signifies harmony in relationships with God and men. It indicates an inner quiet, free of turmoil, dissension, and strife.

For a woman who had endured twelve very hard years, during which she had been isolated and become impoverished as a result of the disease, there must have been a tendency toward resentment and anger, if not toward God, then toward those around her. "Let it go," He was saying. Jesus was telling her to leave the resentment, anger, dissension behind. She was not only to go healed, she was to go forth in harmony with all around her. She was to go "in peace".

His instruction to go in peace indicates a responsibility on her part for the peace. Her healing had come through a well-made choice of faith in Jesus and well-done action to reach out to Him. Her peace would come through an ongoing choice for harmony.

Those three words, go in peace, sound lovely and simple, don't they? They are simple, but they are also filled with the challenge of a lifetime. How often are you tempted toward disharmony, either toward God or man? Choose peace. There may be disagreements with others, and there are times when standing up for right requires unavoidable conflict. Even in the midst of those difficulties, we can have inner peace. We should have inner peace.

The words of Jesus for the woman who was healed are words we would do well to heed. Is there anger, dissension, resentment in your heart? Let it go, and go in peace.

Pray today that we and our loved ones would be so filled with the harmony of peace that it would spill over to all we meet.

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/09/nibbling-on-hay.html

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ISIS has been threatening to behead another journalist, and may well have already done it. Please pray for those in their captivity and their families, those in leadership who need to choose a response to this tyranny, as well as for divine intervention in this situation.